It didn’t feel, at that moment, like I was getting into something over my head. It never does, before you take the leap. - George Alec Effinger

She gave me a wide-eyed, innocent smile that looked as out of place on her as it would have on a desert scorpion.

The male sexual drive is supposed to fall off during moments of stress," he thought. "It is comforting sometimes to know that I must be abnormal. Especially in a situation like this. Perpetual lust has got to be good for the human race.

Perhaps he could organize everyone. He could stand up on something and shout slogans until he had attracted enough attention. Then he could begin some rambling speech, hoping that the people around him would be so desperate for leadership they wouldn’t notice the absurdity of what he said.